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How to avoid hotel attrition costs

Attrition bills can put a damper on otherwise successful meetings and incentive programs. It can be difficult to avoid these dreaded costs, especially since organizing a fantastic program takes a tremendous amount of planning, often over the course of many months.

In case you aren’t sure what attrition costs are, here’s a brief explanation. Say you book 100 hotel rooms for an event. Typically the hotel will charge you for guaranteed number of these rooms — often upwards of 90% — regardless of how many guests your event ends up actually having.

Fortunately there are steps you can take to avoid being saddled by an unfortunate bill at program’s end. Make sure cutoff dates are closer to your event so you have realistic numbers for attendees. Ask for hotel transparency and signed occupancy reports so hotels aren’t taking advantage of you. Ask to pay attrition rates based on historical standards, not on 100% occupancy.

Those steps are only the beginning. There can be a lot of back and forth in arranging equitable hotel attrition rates. Professional planning services have lots of experience with hotel negotiation, and working with them will save you headaches and help you get the best value for your chosen venue.